Precision targeting, peak performance

October 12, 2021

How programmatic is transforming digital advertising

Media buying used to be about booking literal space on the pages of newspapers and magazines, in radio ad breaks and during specific TV programmes. Now, the concept is more nebulous. Buying media space is no longer about placing your ad where it’s likely to be seen, but about reaching your target audience where they are.

Enter programmatic buying. Precise, automated and data-driven, this tech takes over the bidding and buying on ad space and impressions, ensuring that your marketing gets to the right audience every time.

Programmatic buying is transforming the digital advertising landscape and saving marketers time and money. It’s also driving concerns around the ethics of online advertising, visibility, brand safety and digital transparency. Having an experienced provider is just as important as using the right tech.

Not sure what to think? Here are five key takeaways to consider – and five questions to ask your current digital provider:

1: Success starts with safe controls

Automation delivers time savings and accurate targeting, but some marketers fear losing control over their ad placements. Many companies don’t want their brand to be associated with certain sites or content.

The good news? Programmatic tech is so sophisticated that getting around these issues is, well, not an issue. Opt-out filters let you pre-select categories or specific sites where you don’t want your content to appear, or simply choose to appear only on ‘clean, safe’ sites. This brand-safe approach means you know your advertising will only pop up where you want it to.

Has your current agency: created a whitelist of approved sites along with a negative keyword list to help you avoid problematic content?

2: New environments, new issues

With programmatic buying, the quality of the advertising environment is key. As new media environments emerge, programmatic buying will follow. Connected TV, new forms of social media, online audio streaming, Digital-out-of-home (DOOH) content and other new channels offer opportunities for advertisers.

New channels may be less prone to negative content than social media or web browsing, but they come with their own sets of challenges. The newer the channel, the less data there is available around measuring results, balancing frequency and reaching the right audience.

Has your current agency: recommended emerging channels like TikTok, CTV and DOOH?

3: Balancing reach with negative reactions

Because programmatic advertising can ‘chase’ consumers around the internet, targeting them with repeated ads or a buying journey, it runs the risk of being annoying. This annoyance can translate to a negative impression of your brand – any marketer’s nightmare.

That’s where frequency capping comes in. This lets you set limits around how often a specific ad or message can be displayed to one browser, minimising the risk of irritation. It’s also beneficial to your budget – instead of paying for endless impressions to a small group of oversaturated consumers, you can spread your ad spending further, increasing reach and boosting effectiveness.

Has your current agency: developed strategies for remarketing and frequency-capping?

4: Doing more with data

Dynamic creative is the latest trend in programmatic development. This tech takes programmatic buying a step further using data from a range of sources – including location, browsing patterns and demographic information. This data is used to create a series of connected, overlapping ads that can be combined in different ways to be personalised for the customer being targeted.

Dynamic creative can hone your customer targeting and change the way you measure results. Because different customers are put through different journeys, you almost get automated A/B testing for your strategies.

Has your current agency: asked you about creative fatigue and customer touchpoints?

5: Mobile and programmatic go hand-in-hand

Mobile is no longer a second-class medium – over 90% of the global population has internet access using a mobile phone for at least some of their browsing. Because mobile offers richer data – real-time location targeting and market segmentation, for example – it’s a natural partner for programmatic buying.

Optimising mobile ad buying means working with specialists in the field to gain a real understanding of different devices, cookie policies, apps and other mobile-specific issues.

Has your current agency: explained its mobile advertising knowledge and helped you develop a cohesive strategy?

Expert understanding, optimal results

Acquire has always been at the forefront of programmatic advertising in New Zealand. We’ve been using this adtech for a while now, and we’re well-versed in its challenges – and rewards.

We know how to get the best possible result from your ad strategy, no matter what tools we use. The right person, right place, right time, right message and the right cost. Best of all, our custom dashboards make your results crystal clear, even if we’re using complex technology.

Talk to the Acquire team now.